The Postal Service's announcement on Feb. 23 that it has
approved 223 mail processing plants for consolidation
leaves union members just one option, APWU President
Cliff Guffey said: We must continue the fight!

In "stand-up talks" with employees on Feb. 22, managers
emphasized that consolidations would not take place
until after May 15, when a six-month moratorium on
consolidations expires. The moratorium was intended to
give Congress "the opportunity to enact an alternate
plan," postal officials pointed out.

"The Postal Service has sent a clear message," Guffey
said. "If Congress does not take action before the
moratorium expires, management intends to dismantle the
mail processing network.

"APWU members must reach out to their senators and
representatives now and urge them to support legislation
that will correct the underlying cause of the USPS
financial crisis without slashing service, eliminating
jobs, and destroying the network of plants and post
offices that keeps the mail moving," he said.

"This is a Congressionally-manufactured crisis caused by
mandates in the Postal Accountability and Enhancement
Act of 2006," Guffey said. "It has taken just six years
for that terrible law to bring the Postal Service to the
edge of extinction."

Guffey asked every postal employee to join the struggle.
"The folks that got good news should keep up the fight,
too," the union president said, "because the Postal
Service was clear: 35 consolidations were disapproved at
this time."

Why Service Standards Are Crucial

Management also pointed out that the consolidations can
only be implemented if service standards are revised.
The APWU, along with a committed group of senators, has
been working to prevent changes to service standards, by
seeking support for amendments to the 21st Century
Postal Service Act (S. 1789), which is expected to come
up for a vote in the Senate soon.

"It is critical that APWU members ask their senators to
support the amendments," Guffey said. In its current
form, S. 1789 fails to adequately address the cause of
the Postal Service's financial difficulties.

"The amendments offered by the 27 senators would prevent
the closures of hundreds of mail processing plants and
thousands of post offices, halt the elimination of tens
of thousands of jobs, and stop drastic reductions in
service to the American people," Guffey said. "We must
urge Congress to act now."